


Psych Missing Scenes

by PrePsychPineappleLover



Category: Psych
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2020-11-24 07:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20904023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrePsychPineappleLover/pseuds/PrePsychPineappleLover
Summary: This will be a collection of oneshots that didn't make it into the show, but definitely should have. ;) I'm taking requests if anyone got some ideas for missing scene moments. Though, I'm mostly a Shules writer so I prefer to write about them, but all the other characters can be included, too, of course...-new update!!-





	1. Missing Scene 7x06: Cirque du Soul

**Author's Note:**

> The first missing scene moment got inspired by the episode "Cirque du Soul" when Juliet received flowers from both Lassie and Woody for something she did for them...  
This happens after the end of the episode, when the case is closed and Gus and Rachael have their grown-up talk in the Psych office. Shawn decides to leave them alone at last and returns home where Juliet just concluded her own little mission…

Shawn turned the key to his house. Slowly and quietly. He opened the door just a crack and peered inside, listening for any suspicious sounds coming from the main room. But the only sound he heard was the running of water and what could only be his girlfriend humming merrily to her latest favorite song. Shawn opened the door wider and right enough, there she was, setting a vase onto the table.

“Jules.” He whispered to get her attention.

She looked up, a smile spreading on her face when she saw him. “Shawn.”

“Are they gone?” he kept whispering.

“Who?” Juliet asked in amusement, but playing along, whispering back.

“Lassie and Marlowe.” Shawn said, looking around warily again. He still hasn’t dared to step into his home.

Juliet rolled her eyes. “Yes. They moved into Lassiter’s new apartment hours ago, and they’re celebrating their engagement.” Juliet grimaced briefly, imagining what they were most likely doing right now to celebrate.

Finally, Shawn pushed the door open, slamming it shut behind him and rushing over to Juliet. “Oh, thank goodness.” He said, crushing her in a tight hug.

Juliet chuckled, surprised by his immediate emotional display and his sudden closeness to her. “Oh, come on. They were not too bad for roommates.”

“Seriously, Jules?! I have to disagree. All that cuddling and making out in our bathtub was just gross!” Shawn hid his nose in her vanilla-smelling hair and kissed her temple.

“Yeah, right. Just gross.” Juliet repeated, grinning at the irony and hugging her boyfriend back.

“This is no laughing matter, Jules.” Shawn stressed. “_We_ are allowed to do this here. They’re not. They have invaded our home space, taking over everything except our bedroom.” Shawn stopped suddenly, holding Juliet at arm’s length away and staring at her with horror. “They haven’t done anything in our bedroom, right?”

“No, of course not.” Juliet assured him. “There are boundaries not even those two would cross. Listen to me when I call you and this won’t happen again.” She reminded him reproachfully.

“Okay, I admit, I wasn’t really paying attention when you called.” Juliet pouted so Shawn continued swiftly, “I’m sorry, sweetie. It won’t happen again. But there was some really serious stuff going on at the same time.”

Juliet remembered the fight Shawn and Gus had at the station. “Oh, right. How did it go with Gus? Is he still mad?”

“Nah, I think we’re good again.” Shawn said, leaning against the kitchen counter with Juliet still in his arms. “When the circus people and I saved Zola from the bad guys, I may have… uhm… hid _temporarily_ inside a transportable toilet. But Gus found me and claimed that he knew why I was allegedly sabotaging his relationship with Rachael.”

He paused and Juliet looked up, nudging him with her shoulder. “So? Why did you do it?”

Shawn sighed, not wanting to share his selfish motivation, but he figured that if he could tell someone who won’t judge him then it would be his girlfriend. “When my mom left dad… I, uhm… well, technically, I stole a car in a stupid attempt to get her attention.” Shawn looked up from the floor, quickly stealing a glance at Juliet’s eyes to see what her reaction to his juvenile felony would be. Apparently, she let it slide so he continued. “Obviously, that didn’t stop her from leaving. Gus knew about all of this. He said I’m trying to do the same with him, because I’m afraid…” Another pause. Shawn swallowed. “I’m afraid that he would leave me, too, to be with Rachael. He’s the one constant in my life that I haven’t screwed up yet.”

“You won’t screw it up.” Juliet interrupted him, kissing his stubbly chin. “Gus won’t leave you, ever.”

“That’s what he told me.” Shawn said.

“And I won’t leave you either, by the way.” Juliet remembered him.

Shawn smiled down at her, tightening his embrace. “Wow, how lucky am I?” He kissed the top of her head and Juliet looked up, kissing him on the lips in return.

“Yeah, you are.” She sighed, snuggling closer to him and then parting to go around the counter into the kitchen to look for another vase.

Shawn watched her fondly, eyes fixed on the light sway of her hips and the way her golden hair shimmered with every movement she made. “As it turns out it wasn’t too late for Gus and Rachael, either.” he said while watching her.

“Oh, yeah?” Juliet asked, filling up the vase she found with water.

“Yeah. Apparently, Maximus missed Gus, and me, too, of course, and Gus and Rachael had a talk. When they came back they were annoyingly on the same side again. They scolded me and poor Max for making a bet.”

“What bet?” Juliet turned off the tap and placed her second bouquet of flowers into the vase.

“I promised him a fiver if he would drink up a jar of pickle water.” Juliet shook her head and laughed.

“What?” Shawn asked.

“And you wonder why they scolded you?” she said.

“Me _and_ Max.” Shawn pointed out. “It’s not a big deal. I don’t even know why they were so fussy. Max agreed to drink it.”

Juliet kept laughing while setting the vase on the counter. “My boyfriend, the man who makes kids drink sausage water.”

“Pickles, Jules. There’s a difference.” Shawn said, watching Juliet as she fiddled with the beautiful bouquet of flowers. Suddenly, he frowned in confusion, looking back to the center of the table where another, even bigger and more beautiful bouquet was set. The little tags sticking out of both of them indicated that both bouquets had a sender that surely wasn’t him. Shawn quickly pondered if he had forgotten any special date, but it wasn’t Valentine’s Day and Juliet’s birthday was still a few months away. He tried to ignore the pang of jealousy suddenly penetrating his chest when he asked her about it. “Hey, uhm… back to you saying that you won’t leave me…”

“Yes…?” she asked, when Shawn paused again, leaving the bouquet alone and concentrating on her suddenly nervous boyfriend.

“When are you planning to tell me about that secret lover of yours?” Shawn continued.

“What?” Juliet exclaimed a little offended. “What makes you think that I…” She stopped when she noticed the poisonous looks Shawn threw at her flowers. “Oh that.” She laughed. “These flowers are not from a secret lover, Shawn. Don’t be so jealous.” she said, grabbing his hands reassuringly over the counter.

“I’m not jealous.” Shawn claimed huffy.

“Yeah, you are.” Juliet teased him, an evil smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“Well, who sent them?” Shawn sulked.

Juliet grinned proudly, pointing at the smaller bouquet next to them on the counter while still holding on to Shawn’s hands. “This one is from Carlton for enduring him and Marlowe at our house while Marlowe’s parole officer got back at him when he didn’t called her back. And before you ask, _no_, you don’t want to hear any more details.” Juliet stressed. Then she pointed towards the table. “And this nice bouquet is from Woody for hooking him up with said parole officer which caused her to lose interest in Carlton. Again, no details necessary.”

Shawn slowly grinned back at her. “Jules, you crafty, little minx. So, it was all you who made Lassie and Marlowe leave?”

Juliet batted her eyelashes at him. “You could say it like that.”

Shawn moved closer to her face. “Well, in that case…” he said, leaning farther in. Only millimeters separated their lips, when Shawn suddenly retreated, denying her the kiss she expected and slipped his hands from her grasp.

Juliet blinked in confusion. “What?” she called when Shawn turned, heading for the door without another word. She hurried around the kitchen counter, reaching for his shoulder to stop him. “Shawn, wait. Where are you going?”

“Well, obviously, I’ll go to buy you an even bigger bouquet of flowers, preferably roses, for making you and me the only couple living under this roof again. And because I absolutely can’t stand the fact that there is a flowery gift from our coroner sitting on our dining table. I don’t want to think about death while eating.” Shawn added seriously, moving to leave. But Juliet held him back, turning him around with a mischievous smile on her face.

“But Shawn…” she purred sweetly. “I don’t want any flowers from you.” She slipped her hands around his waist, moving so close that her chest touched his. “The gift only you can give me is so much more rewarding than a bunch of limp flowers.” She nudged his hips with hers, making him jump.

Shawn grinned lopsidedly at her suggestion. “Oh, yeah? What could that be?”

Juliet tugged at his belt loop. “Follow me and I’ll show you.”

Shawn chuckled, letting Juliet pull him along for a bit. Then he resisted. “Wait. Why hide back there in our room when we have the _whole_ house to ourselves?” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

“Oh, Shawn. I’m so _not_ going to regret this.” she said and they collided in a searing kiss.


	2. Missing Scene 7x13: Nip And Suck It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did you ever wonder what made Juliet officially forgive Shawn for his lies and how he explained the truth to her? Well, here is what I think could have happened. This scene takes place shortly before Shawn announces to Gus in the episode, "Nip and Suck it", that he and Jules are back together again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a veeery long oneshot with various flashbacks... but I just wanted to cover everything that I felt was missing during the entire Shules break-up time...

Juliet awoke with a smile on her face.

The sun, shining through the curtains, tickled her nose and warmed her cheeks. She smiled because the world seemed calm and happy. Or maybe it was just her who felt that way; she didn’t really care. Juliet was surrounded by a warm embrace, holding her secure and tight… and that wasn’t just a figure of speech. She was lying in the arms of a man.

And not just any man…

Shawn.

His left arm stuck beneath her and his right was wound tightly around her waist, keeping her close. Even his leg was somehow woven between hers so she couldn’t possibly get up without his knowledge. Juliet felt his breath on her neck where he hid his nose in the curls of her hair.

Oh, and they were naked.

Juliet’s smile widened. Because it felt right. For the first time in a long while it felt like the rightest place to be again. There was no lingering feeling of anger or regret, no crushing pain or heart ache and no sign of distrust.

Just happiness.

As if he had guessed her thoughts, Shawn unconsciously tightened his grip around her and snuggled even closer. Her name left his lips in a soft sigh.

“Jules.”

She blinked a few times to get rid of the moisture that suddenly filled her eyes and let her right hand wander along his arm to intertwine her fingers with his, squeezing them. Shawn held her so tight that it was actually hard for her to breathe; as if he feared that she would disappear any moment, leaving him alone.

But Juliet was done with that. After everything she knew now she intended to officially take him back as her boyfriend. Maybe she should have told him so before they slept together, but somehow she wasn’t able to find the right words, her mind being otherwise occupied.

Lying there in the blissful happiness of the morning after, Juliet thought back to the conversation that led her back into his arms:

* * *

_Shawn had persuaded her to go and eat dinner somewhere after they closed the plastic surgery case. They’ve been relatively civil with each other since Shawn almost gave up his career upon her request. She had stopped him at the last second before he could spill the beans to Chief Vick and they had started a habit of having lunch together since then._

_But this was dinner and the mood was different somehow._

_Until now Shawn and Juliet had avoided the topic of Shawn’s lies and concentrated on learning to be friends again and this “_ _dinner date_ _” was no exception. At least in Shawn’s book. _

_All he wanted to do was making her laugh and he talked, talked, talked until his tongue was in a knot. He desperately fought for her, trying to make her forget everything that happened. Juliet played along for a while; only because he made such an effort in trying to be the perfect gentleman for her. But when he offered to walk her home and they eventually stood on her doorstep, saying goodbye, Juliet couldn’t take it anymore._

_“Shawn, we need to talk.”_

_All color drained from his face._

_She smiled encouragingly and timidly took his hand. “You knew we eventually had to talk about this. I want the truth, Shawn. Come on.” She pulled him inside and they sat down on the couch._

_Juliet poured them a glass of cheap wine – even though they both usually preferred beer – stating that it will help him loosening his tongue and then she immediately shot him the first blunt question: “Tell me, what’s your deal?”_

_Shawn raised his brows. “My deal? Well, usually it’s candy. Gus and I hoarding each other’s favorite type in a secret stash and we using it as bribe to get the other to do chores. That’s the deal. Gus loves M&M’s, but I would kill for Red Vines or sometimes even—“_

_“Shawn.” she interrupted him fiercely. “I’m being serious. Tell me why you started to lie. Tell me now or I swear I’ll kick you out again. And I won’t let you come back.”_

_Shawn gulped. He studied her face for any sign of reluctance, but Juliet knew that he would find none. She entered cop mode and she wouldn’t back down from the conversation that they should have had a long time ago._

_Finally, Shawn dropped his gaze into his lap and let out a tense breath. His fingers dug nervously into the cushion of the couch as he began talking. “It started with a situation just like this one.” Shawn admitted and then paused. “_ _An _ _interrogation_ _._ _”_

_Juliet scrunched her brows in mild offense, but Shawn continued before she had a chance to interrupt._

_“__I __met Lassiter_ _when I wanted to collect the reward money for a police case that I solved by watching the news. Lassie thought I was an insider and grilled me like a prime suspect… I really was his prime suspect.” Shawn mused and then smiled bitterly. “You know me, Jules, I didn’t take him seriously and I made fun of him and I was… kind of insulting to be honest.” Shawn rubbed his palms together in shame. “He didn’t believe the truth and was trying to arrest me, so… I panicked and… I said the first thing that came to my mind.”_

_“That you were psychic.” Juliet finished for him. Shawn looked up, seemingly a little surprised that she immediately assumed correctly._

_“Exactly.” Shawn said. “I _proved_ my claim to them by pointing out the incriminating proof of guilt of a car wrecker, the fact that I knew about Lassie’s affair and McNab’s upcoming wedding. That’s when I came to Chief Vick’s attention. She let me work on a case as a consultant, saying that she will press charges if I failed… so I dove in.”_

_“And you were successful.” _ _Juliet guessed easily_ _._

_“Eventually.” Shawn smiled nostalgic. “I rented an office space, brought Gus into the scheme and intended to milk all the fun out of this act before I got bored again _ _and tried_ _ something different.” Shawn paused again, sheepishly looking at her. “And that’s where you came in.”_

_Juliet felt a blush creeping up her neck upon those implications and smiled briefly before she forced control back into her hands and got back to business. Now wasn’t the time to fall for his charms again. “But I… I still don’t understand. If it has obviously nothing to do with being psychic then how could you solve those cases?”_

_Shawn’s flirtatious smile fell dramatically and something dark took its place. He began to shift nervously on his seat and fiddle with the hem of a pillow that he clutched protectively against his chest._

_“Shawn?” Juliet asked carefully. He quickly glanced up to meet her inquisitive gaze, but couldn’t hold it. “Why is this so hard for you to tell me?”_

_“_ _Bad memories._ _” Shawn mumbled._

_Involuntarily, Juliet found herself reaching for his hand to calm him and his tensed muscles. Their eyes met and once again Juliet felt as if those vibrant pools of green would stare directly into her soul and figure out all her hidden secrets within a second. Her heart sped up and her throat ran dry, but Shawn always had that effect on her. There was no denying that she was still putty in his hands if he looked at her like that._

_“I have a photographic memory.” Shawn blurted out, shaking her from her swooning. “My dad noticed it very early on and he trained me to notice absolutely everything since I was a child. He thought it would be very helpful once I step into his footsteps and become a cop.” Shawn snorted humorlessly. “Well, you know how that turned out.”_

_Juliet_ _’s mind reeled. “Photographic… what? You mean, y-you can—“_

_“I can step into a room, analyze it in a second and recall everything I _ _saw at any_ _ time later.” Shawn explained with detachment._

_Baffled, Juliet blinked at him. “Show me.” she croaked out and watched in amazement how Shawn sighed and then closed his eyes._

_“You probably remember that the restaurant we ate at was awfully wooden-y,” he said. “I mean wooden walls, wooden ceiling and wooden floors. It was rustic, but warm. The table cloths were white and the candles on the tables were orange. You might have even noticed that there were four different waiters on staff that evening. Two guys and two girls.”_

_“Yes… yes, I remember all of this.” Juliet answered._

_“But do you also remember the name of our nice waiter?”_

_“_ _Uhm_ _…” Juliet thought hard for a moment. Shawn had been distractingly chatty during dinner, but she was a cop, for heaven’s sake. She should be able to remember details. “Danny… or Darren or something.”_

_“Almost, Jules. It’s Dennis. And he got his eye on his colleague Nicole the whole evening. She seems interested from the way she always smiled back at him and nervously kept dropping flatware. She was also the slowest waitress. There were 24 tables at the restaurant and those six that she was assigned to waited the longest for their food. That’s why that elderly couple complained so much the whole evening. If I had to wear such a bad toupee as the one the man got on his head I would be grumpy, too.”_

_Shawn made a short pause and Juliet noticed how his eyes moved beneath his lids, as if he was refocusing._

_“On the other side, two tables to our right and one to the back there was another couple. Younger. Married. The girl’s hair was dark and curly the man’s was greasy and flat. I think they had been fighting and this was their conciliation dinner. The man kept pleading with her, but the woman seemed cold and her arms were crossed most of the time. I don’t think they’ll make it. The man kept ogling our delightfully clumsy waitress Nicole whenever she passed his table.”_

_Shawn began massaging his temples, frowning in deep concentration._

_“There was a man with a diabetes bracelet, two tables behind you on the left side. He came from the movies, __still had the ticket_ _stub.__ Probably some lame documentary. He looked like a history teacher to me with his bow tie and that hideous checkered sweater.” Shawn scrunched up his face in disgust as if he actually saw the mentioned article of clothing before his eyes._

_“And then there was this sweet, young girl,” he continued, “who stole that wealthy Texan’s wallet when he bent down to pick up a napkin, which the nervous, shifty-eyed blond waiter coincidentally let fall right before his feet. They’re probably a team. Sorry, I didn’t warn you, but we just closed a case and you’re supposed to be off duty, right?”_

_Shawn’s eyes fluttered open and he met with Juliet’s slack-jawed face. A million thoughts ran through her mind as she, too, tried to piece together their evening at the restaurant. She didn’t even notice half of it. Juliet’s first impulse was to say something quick-witted to show that she wasn’t as floored by his performance as she really was. That would make his ego swell annoyingly, she thought. But then Juliet realized that Shawn didn’t seem overly confidant for once. Instead he went back to fiddle on the pillow and sink shamefully into his seat as if he was waiting for a snide comment to hit him._

_That wasn’t the Shawn she knew. Taken aback, Juliet stumbled over her words. “W-Wow. That was… that was amazing. I… I noticed that there was a clanging sound of someone repeatedly dropping his fork, but I never knew it was always the same waitress. And the fighting couple and… and there was actually a crime going on and I didn’t notice?! Some cop I am.”_

_Shawn’s face fell._ _“No, Jules. Don’t say that. You’re a great cop. The best. That’s just… me and my… stupid mind.” Shawn mumbled quietly towards the end._

_“What?” Juliet laughed skeptically. She couldn’t believe her ears. Was he really actually so ashamed of his true gift that he involuntary came up with a lie to make it bearable? “How can you say that? The things you can do… that was actually _you_ and not some supernatural gift. The cases you solved… that’s… that’s incredible.”_

_Shawn took a swing of his drink and then clutched the pillow even tighter. “Maybe it is, looking at it now. But when I was younger…” he drifted off. “I hated my dad for training me the way he did. I hated that I was different and weird. Gus is and always had been my only friend in life. So eventually… I started to become this other person. The fun and open-minded silly guy than no one took seriously. If you would want to pinpoint the moment that I started lying… _that_ would be it.”_

_Juliet kept quiet. She scooted closer to him, but she didn’t dare interrupting again. Not when he showed her his absolute, true colors. She’d never thought that he was hiding so much. Juliet wondered if she should feel hurt, because, apparently, she knew him even less than she thought, but then ultimately decided against it. Juliet always knew that Shawn was a good guy, there were just more layers to him than she could’ve ever imagined._

_“It was because of the person I’d become that Lassie didn’t believe me when I told him the truth.” Shawn said. “I had to tell him a lie to save myself. And I would lie again if I say I regret it. Because it was fun and it was exciting, I just…” he cut himself off to swallow the lump that formed in his throat. “I just wish I had told _you_ sooner.”_

_Shawn threw the pillow aside, sniffed and nervously looked around in their… __no, in _her_ living room never meeting her eyes. He was about to get up and flee from his emotions, threatening to overwhelm him, when Juliet grabbed his arm and held him back. “__No, come __here__.__” she whispered and opened her arms for him._

_He engulfed her small figure in his broad embrace and hugged her tightly. Juliet held onto him and didn’t mention that his body was shaking._

_“You are amazing.” Shawn mumbled into her hair. “I knew from the moment I met you that you were something special, but I’d never thought… that _I_… would be good enough for you. I’d never thought you would _want_ to be with me or actually fall in love with me.”_

“Falling in love with you was never part of the plan.” 

_That’s what he said at Lassiter’s wedding and she had hated him for how callous it sounded. But in the light of truth there was a different ring to it. “Oh, Shawn. Of course I would. How couldn’t I? You were amazing, too.” _ _Juliet sobbed._

_“By the time we got together,” Shawn continued. “I was already in too deep and I was s-so… afraid of losing you. I-I didn’t know how to tell you. I c-couldn’t, but Jules… I _never_ lied about the way I feel for you. I-I love you.”_

_His speech was rapid towards the end and interrupted by hiccupping sobs, but she heard every word. Oh, how could she have doubted his feelings? Juliet felt that there never were more genuine words upon his lips than those. She believed him. Wholeheartedly. And that’s when they started to kiss. Passionate and desperate with their tears mixing on their faces. _

_“I love you, too.” she said back… _

* * *

And then there was a hearty yawn, startling Juliet back to the present that resulted from this night of full disclosure. She almost jumped out of her skin, being so lost in her thoughts, but she settled down quickly. Shawn nuzzled her neck and pressed a soft kiss to her skin.

“Morning, beautiful.” he mumbled sleepily. “Did I wake you? You seem… kinda jumpy.”

“No, I was just… lost in thought.” Juliet said quietly, smiling at how easily the compliment slipped from Shawn’s lips.

“Hmm, good thoughts or bad thoughts?” Shawn mumbled, pulling her closer to his body and resting his face right in the crook of her neck.

“I thought about last night.”

He stiffened. “Okay… uhm… same question, Jules. Good thoughts or bad thoughts?”

Juliet sensed his fear of being rejected all over again and wanted to reassure him once and for all. Smiling, she freed her body from his possessive embrace, turned over towards him and captured his lips with a kiss, catching him completely off guard.

“W-Wow.” he stuttered when they parted and he met with her beaming face. “I guess that means good thoughts, huh?”

“Yeah…” she admitted quietly. “I finally know the secret to your success. It all makes so much more sense now, it’s…” She paused, smiling. “It’s a good feeling.”

Shawn leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. His breath ghosted over her skin as he whispered, “You have no idea how thankful I am that you feel that way, Jules.”

A few moments of content silence past between the two lovers, only interrupted when Juliet suddenly demanded, “You know that I want to hear the true story to every big case we had been working on, right?”

Shawn groaned theatrically. “Oh, Juules don’t make me…”

“I will.” she said unrelentingly, but couldn’t hide the smug smile on her face.

“Ugh… alright. I guess you deserve to know.” Shawn said, pressing a kiss to her forehead and sitting up to put on his shorts. “But I must warn you, it might take the mystery out of me. I’m no longer a psychic crime-fighting superhero, you know.”

“I think you’re still pretty decent though.” Juliet joked, propping herself up on her elbows just as Shawn stood to go to the bathroom. His bare back was facing her and for a few seconds before the bathroom door closed, Juliet was able to see a small, pink stripe of new skin on his right shoulder blade.

Juliet frowned.

She was pretty sure that what she saw was a scar and that it hadn’t been there the last time she had seen him without his clothes on. Quickly, she checked her memory to find out if this injury resulted from working a case, but she couldn’t think of anything.

The only incident that came to her mind where Shawn was severely physically harmed was when he got shot and held hostage by this Garth Longmore guy. But the scar he carried away from that was roundish and located on his left front side.

_What happened to him?_ Juliet wondered. Was there something else she forgot… or something he didn’t tell her? _Not yet at least_, she thought.

Juliet got up from her bed and swiftly put on her underwear and blouse. Before she patched things up with Shawn she needed to know the origin of this new scar, she reasoned.

She heard the toilet flush and in the next moment Shawn appeared again, finding her sitting on the edge of the bed, facing him.

He smiled at her. She smiled back and nervously clenched her fists in her lap. Shawn immediately frowned. “You okay, Jules?” he asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, all good.” she stuttered quickly. Juliet cursed herself for letting him know so easily that something was up, but then reconsidered. She won’t be able to get away with anything now that she knew what a keen observer Shawn was. Who was she kidding, she sucked big time at lying; she never stood a chance.

“Okay.” Shawn said warily and proceeded to pick up his shirt from the ground, starting to put it on.

“Wait.” Juliet blurted out with a sigh, clenching her fists once again and sheepishly fixing the floor with her gaze.

“I knew it.” Shawn said with a wolfish grin, still holding his shirt in his hand. “You want an encore, but you don’t think it’s appropriate to ask since we’re not officially together yet.”

Juliet’s head snapped up. “What?!” she exclaimed indignantly. “Oh, no. No, no, no, your observational skills are way off on that, Shawn!” she emphasized forcefully.

“Oh.” Shawn’s grin turned to a slight embarrassed blush. “I knew that.” he claimed. “Just, uhm… wanted to drop that in for, uhm… for comedic effect, you know.” he finished weakly.

“Yeah… right.” Juliet’s own blush warmed her cheeks, but she was the first to recover. “Look… I just wanted to ask you…” She looked into her lap where she nervously picked at her fingernails and took a deep breath before she started anew. “I noticed you had a… a scar… on your right shoulder. I just wanted to know how you got it.”

The mood shifted again as Shawn’s features darkened and he walked around the bed so he didn’t have to look directly at her anymore, while slipping on the buttoned shirt to cover himself. "Oh, that… that’s just a skin rash, or a mole… probably. Nothing to worry about.” Shawn said nonchalantly.

Juliet crouched on the bed, watching how Shawn, sitting on the opposite side facing away from her, intensely concentrated on buttoning up his shirt. “I think I know the difference between a skin rash and a scar.” she declared fiercely. “And I would know if you had a mole there.”

“You would?”

“Of course, I know your body.” she snapped and regretted those words the moment they left her lips. She could hear him snicker again.

“Well, I can’t disagree with that.”

“Shawn…” she said soberly and crawled over to sit beside him. “Look at me and tell me if you’re lying.”

Shawn sighed. Seemingly, as if he knew that she would ask him exactly that. “Jules…”

“Tell me.” she repeated again.

“Okay, listen, first of all there has to be a limited amount of times you’re allowed to make me feel guilty with this and second…” He looked up and over his shoulder right into her eyes. “Yes… I’m lying, because I really think it’s better if you didn’t know.”

“Why?” she asked. The pain that had finally subdued inside of her fought its way back to the surface.

“It’s… it’s not because I don’t trust you. I do, Jules, I really do. But this… it might scare you, I’m just trying to protect you.”

Juliet could see it in his eyes; she could hear it in his voice. He was telling the truth. But that tiny bit of pain also brought back the cold resoluteness that protected her heart when she was the most vulnerable. “I don’t need to be protected.” she said sharply. “I’m a detective, Shawn. This is what I do.”

He snorted bitterly. “Funny. That’s exactly what you said to me when I got the scar.”

Juliet took pride in the fact that she usually was a very patient woman. It helped when being partnered up with a very determined, stubborn man. She can keep cool and nice when an interrogation took longer than necessary and Lassiter already threatened to strangle the truth out of the culprit. But this lie, this explanation of the truth already took too long. Juliet didn’t want to be patient anymore. “Shawn… for god’s sake, it’s like pulling teeth with you. Just tell me what happened!”

“It isn’t something I like to remember, okay!” Shawn suddenly exclaimed defensively. “The downside of a perfect memory is that you can also keep memories that you don’t want to have. Scary memories.” He lowered his voice at the end when he realized how much he had startled her. Ashamed of his outburst he looked away and dropped his shoulders in defeat. “Sorry… I-I didn’t mean to scream like that. I’m sorry.”

Juliet was fascinated and unsettled in equal measures by how out of character Shawn suddenly seemed. Gone was the happy-go-lucky, smiling façade; replaced with a worried and truly scared man. She took one of his clenched, jittery hands. “It’s okay.” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to pressure you. You’re right, bad memories are… hard to remember.”

Coincidentally, Juliet’s other hand rested upon his injured shoulder. She carefully rubbed the covered spot where the scar must be. “Maybe…” she paused hesitantly. “C-Can I look at it? Just until you find the right words…” She placed her hands upon the shirt’s collar and tentatively tugged at it. Shawn didn’t resist when she lowered the fabric just so much that it slipped an inch down his shoulders and revealed the fresh scar.

It was small; hardly two inches long. Tenderly, Juliet let her fingers wander over the pink spot with ragged edges. Shawn tensed, but didn’t flinch and Juliet could imagine his pained expression as he remembered whatever had caused that scar. “This looks like a cut from a knife.” Juliet considered observantly.

“It is.” Shawn admitted quietly.

“Who attacked you?” Juliet asked while rubbing softly up and down his shoulder.

Now, Shawn withdrew from her touch and he took her still upheld hand, capturing it between his. “Remember the case we worked together right after… we broke up?” Shawn didn’t look up from their clasped hands and continued before Juliet had the chance to answer. “We were looking for that guy, Anders, the so-called boyfriend of that crazy Swede, Elin.”

“I remember.” Juliet voiced timidly since Shawn was still not making eye contact.

“And I had a… uhm, a _revelation,_” Shawn stressed. “In the Chief’s office that Elin was actually the one behind the murders. But… the truth is, I followed a lead on my own and found Anders right after Elin had killed him. And she was still around.”

“Elin did that?” Juliet asked. “But I saw you and her fighting. Lassie and I came right on time _before_ she could stab you.” Involuntary, Juliet squeezed Shawn’s hand tighter as she remembered the heart-gripping fear she felt when she saw Elin wrestling with Shawn, the tip of her scary butcher knife just right above his chest and his heart. In that moment it hadn’t mattered that she was still furious with him or that she acted cold and distant after she saved him… Juliet had been so terrified by the fact that she almost lost him there.

And as she will find out now… it wasn’t the only time Shawn almost died during that case.

“No… I mean… yes, it was Elin, but this happened before she tried to stab me… when I was on my own.” Shawn explained. He began massaging Juliet’s hand, apparently to mask his own uneasiness. “She caught me, finding Anders dead at the side of the road and she snuck up from behind. We fought, I managed to kick the knife out of her hand, but then she pushed me and I fell into the street.”

Juliet realized she was holding her breath as she waited for Shawn to continue, but at the same time, she dreaded his next words, because she knew she would hate whatever followed now.

“Of course there was a car.” Shawn snorted, rolling his eyes heavenwards as if he would curse his luck. “I managed to roll out of the way onto the other side of the street, but then… there w-was a truck.” He cleared his throat and briefly gestured with his hands before holding on to Juliet again. “Long, big… wide monster of a truck...” Shawn paused, staring aimlessly onto their joined hands. “It was already too close to escape it.”

Juliet couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She wanted to say something, but her throat was dry and she was frozen with fear. She saw the look in Shawn’s eyes; equally terrified and lost and she knew that he was reliving that moment vividly right now. Every last, frightening little detail must be replaying itself in total clarity in his amazing, unforgettable mind.

“I… I just… stayed there.” Shawn murmured. “Cheek pressed to the street, hands tucked right by my side and the truck… it just _thundered_ over me.” he swallowed, pausing again. “Thank god, it was high enough to run over me without leaving a scratch, but… it was… I-I thought it was over.”

From the way Shawn carefully paused during his narration, Juliet could tell that he was trying very hard not to get overwhelmed by the panic he must have felt back then. “I remember your revelation.” Juliet finally spoke up after a tensed silence had settled over them.

The sentence must have seemed so out of place for him that Shawn dared to look up. His eyes were pale-green, lost and haunted.

“You were sitting down the entire time and you kept rubbing your shoulder.” Juliet recalled. “I remember thinking that you looked so exhausted… like you’ve been through hell. But I was still so angry and thought you were just acting for your psychic charade… but I’d never thought… that you… that y-you almost _died_ just a few hours before.” Juliet paused, horrified about where her thoughts were leading her. She slipped out from Shawn’s grip and covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh god.” she whispered. “Oh god, you could’ve died.”

Live returned to Shawn upon seeing her fear. He reached for her arms again. “I didn’t die. You see, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you. Now you worry for nothing, Jules. It’s over. It’s in the past. I’m here now.”

Despite his words, Juliet was still shaking with fear. “I didn’t even know.” she mumbled to herself. “I-I should’ve asked you if you were okay. I should’ve asked what happened. I... I—“

“No, it’s okay.” Shawn reassured her. “You were angry with me and you had every right to be. I didn’t tell anyone anyway. Not even Gus knows about this.”

“I don’t care!” Juliet exclaimed, agitatedly trying to free herself from Shawn, but not quite succeeding. “I don’t care who you told; _I_ didn’t know and you almost _died_! If it had been another type of car, if you had made just one false movement…”

Tears were clogging up her voice and Juliet suddenly found herself in Shawn’s warm and strong embrace. He hugged her tightly to his chest, shushing her and stroking her head. “Shh, it’s okay. I’m fine.” he said. “This happened weeks ago. I don’t even think about it anymore… and you shouldn’t, either.”

Juliet could hear and feel his steady heartbeat beneath her, reminding her that he was alive, but even that couldn’t quite calm her down. “If you had died…” She started her conditioned thought patterns again. “I couldn’t have told you again that I still love you. I wouldn’t have had the chance to learn to forgive you. We were broken up and the last words I would’ve said to you were full of resentment and hurt.”

“Jules, would you please stop that. Please.” Shawn asked her softly. “I’m fine. I didn’t die. Stop thinking about what could have happened. It didn’t and I swear to you I won’t follow a lead completely on my own again. I’ll take Gus with me… or you. You know Gus would totally stop a car for me.”

She knew that he was trying to cheer her up with his humor and Juliet played along as best as she could with a weak, wet chuckle. “Somehow I seriously doubt that.”

“He would.” Shawn stated. “Gus wouldn’t survive a day without me. I mean who else would take care of him when he’s on a sugar binge or run background checks on his girlfriends? You know they all seem to be crazy, man-eating killers, Jules.”

This time her chuckle was more genuine. “You’re right… he needs you.” With fear still stuck in her bones, Juliet suddenly felt tired again and she wasn’t ready to give up the secure connection with Shawn. “I need you, too.” she whispered. “C-Can we… just lay down for a while longer?”

Shawn pressed a kiss to her head, mumbling against her hair, “All day if you want, Sweetheart.”

* * *

_She was sitting in front of her computer at the station, looking for information about this Anders character. They still didn’t know anything about him except that he allegedly was one of Elin’s boyfriends and that he could be the one behind the murders._

_Lassiter came up to her. “Hospital just called. Elin has been picked up by her host mother. We need to find out where they went or we can’t save her from her maniac boyfriend. What do we know about Anders?”_

_“Nothing.” Juliet answered. “He’s not in the system. At least not in the US data base. Maybe we should check out if he was convicted in Sweden?”_

_“You can do that later.” The Chief ordered, emerging from her office. “Somebody found his death at the same road where Mr. Spencer picked up Elin after she was attacked. It looks like a random car accident, but you two will check it out first before we can presume that it’s not connected to this case.”_

_“Who’s the victim?” Lassiter wanted to know._

_“We don’t know yet.” Chief Vick said. “A trucker called it in. He was in shock, saying that this guy was suddenly lying on the road and he couldn’t stop in time. We need to know if it’s possible that he was dead before he got run over.”_

_Right after the Chief ended her sentence, Juliet sat next to Lassiter in his car, driving to the location of the accident. For some reason she couldn’t remember anything that happened in between. And she also didn’t care. Probably just a normal car accident, hopefully not connected to their case so this wouldn’t get even more complicated. _

_They arrived at the scene. Black and yellow police tape blocked the road. The blue flashing lights of the squad cars illuminated the hectic mess. An ambulance car was already here, but the paramedics were only focused on the baffled trucker. Apparently all help was too late for the other guy. No wonder, considering the amount of blood on the street. It reached from underneath the big tires of the truck, standing diagonally on the road to a heap on the ground covered with a white cloth. Dark-red spots of blood drenched through the fabric. Woodrow Strode knelt next to it._

_“What do we have here?” Juliet asked professionally, walking over to him._

_Woody looked up. He seemed truly shocked to see her here. Juliet figured that he shouldn’t be that surprised to meet her at a crime scene, but what puzzled her more was his total lack of kind weirdness. It seemed very out of character for him._

_His mournful, dead-serious voice should have been the next clear sign for her that something was absolutely wrong with this picture. “I’m sorry, Juliet. I’m so… so sorry.”_

_“W-What?” she accidentally stumbled over her words. “Why are you sorry? Who is it?”_

_Woody sighed deeply and placed one hand at the edge of the cloth. He paused woefully as if bracing himself before he pulled it back. “It’s Shawn, Juliet… it’s Shawn.”_

_Juliet_ _’s heart stopped. Her world started spinning around the battered face she looked upon. She couldn’t turn her gaze away; her muscles were frozen. “N-No. It c-can’t be…” She heard a fragile voice utter, too shocked to realize that it was her own._

_Her blood rushed in her ears. Her knees got weak and her stomach flip-flopped. “H-He was fine… yesterday. That’s not… it can’t…” Mechanically, Juliet forced her legs to move forward. Just one, two steps until she could properly see his wild, bloodied mane of dark hair, the careless stubble on his cheeks and the bloodshot bump on his forehead._

_And suddenly there was no more room for denial._

It was him.

_“Oh my god!” she whispered, feeling utterly sick. The world swam in front of her face and before she knew it she was kneeling on the ground, emptying her stomach in front of her. Black spots kept dancing before her eyes. She could feel hands on her back, could hear Lassiter’s voice talking to her, but she couldn’t understand him. Everything was too loud. Too shrill. Rushing in her ears. Emptiness in her mind. _

_Her heart pumped wildly. She knelt on the ground, supported on her hands. The black spots didn’t go away. _

His heart didn’t pump. His mind didn’t think. He was dead_._

_“_NO!_ God, no, no, no!__” she screeched, crawling over to him on all fours and leaning over his destroyed body. _“Shawn!_ Shawn, please! Please, you can’t be dead! You can’t be…” Juliet realized she was crying hysterically by now, but she couldn’t do anything about it. With a shrill voice, strange to her own ears, she begged him to wake up. She touched his cheek. Cold. Ice cold and so… still. _

_Juliet recognized the white shirt he was wearing. The one he wore when she splashed her sparkling wine into his sad, confused face. When she found out the truth. No more lies will come over his lips. God, how much she wanted him to tell her a lie. Tell her _anything! _But he won’t. His mouth was sealed and his eyes were closed. Forever._

_Juliet__’s knees were drenched in blood. _His blood._ Covering the entire street. Her tears dripped onto his face, mixing with the blood and blood-red drops ran down his skin and onto the blood-red ground._

_Juliet screamed._

_Suddenly, Gus and Henry were there. Gus was sobbing uncontrollably. “Why couldn’t you forgive him? Why did you leave him?” he asked her, drenched in tears._

_“You left him alone! You should’ve stayed with him! Now my son is dead!” Henry accused her, tears in his eyes, but his voice full of menace. _

_“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” _ _Juliet sobbed. _ _“Oh god, Shawn. I’m so sorry. I love you. I forgive you. Can you hear me? Please, say that you can hear me!” _

_Lassiter took her by her arms, pulling her away from the lifeless man on the ground. “Leave him, O’_ _Hara. He_ _’s gone. He’s long gone.”_

_“No! No! He can’t be dead! No, Shawn… _Shawn!”_ she screamed._

* * *

She screamed, shooting up in her bed.

Juliet’s fingers dug into the bedsheet, her lungs heaving, her heart racing. Darkness surrounded her. The only sounds were her labored breaths and the thumping of her heart.

_A dream, _she realized_, it was just a dream. A horrible, bad nightmare._

Her whole body still shivered and as she raised her hand to her face she felt tears on her cheeks. _My god, it all seemed so vivid and real_, Juliet thought. _It could have been reality, if Shawn hadn’t been so damn lucky again._

Juliet froze… then in a flash, she reached over, turned on the lamp on her bedside table and looked at the space next to her.

Shawn’s side was empty.

Her heart thumped faster again and her throat began closing up in rising panic. “Okay, calm down.” Juliet mumbled to herself. “No need to panic.”

After Shawn had told her the story behind his scar, they lay together for a while just as Juliet asked him to, but eventually she needed to get up to finish paperwork at the station for their latest case in the cosmetic surgery and Shawn wanted to check on Gus and his frozen forehead. The moment had seemed to be over and Juliet missed her chance to unmistakably tell him that she wanted him back as her boyfriend.

She went to bed alone that night. Shawn was temporarily crashing on the couch in the Psych office, because he had slept at Gus’ place for the entire last week and didn’t want to bother him again.

At least she thought that he was there.

_Stop it, that’s ridiculous, _Juliet scolded herself. _He’s alive and well and probably snoring away just a few blocks away from here._

Her breathing had returned to normal and her heart had slowed down. Rationality had won again. Shawn was fine. She could check on him tomorrow. Relieved, Juliet turned out the light and lay back into her pillow.

She closed her eyes… and all she saw was red blood. On the street, the tires of the truck, the cloth, his body…

Her eyes popped open again. Still, Juliet was able to see his absolutely motionless face. Stiff and cold and dead. “Oh god, I’ll never get back to sleep.” she whispered to herself… and she was right.

She tried it for almost two hours before she gave up. Agitated, Juliet jumped out of bed, grabbed her keys and hurried out the door in her pajamas. She knew that this whole situation was stupid and irrational and so not her style, but she did it anyway. Driven by the need to clear up the air between them once and for all.

It was dark in and outside of the Psych office. The night was cloudy and black and Juliet shivered as she hurried over to the entrance door to find it locked for once. Impatiently, she knocked. “Shawn? Are you there? Shawn?” Nervously, she glanced around, feeling exposed in her short pajama pants. Although at this time of night no living soul should be up and wandering the streets. Well, Juliet knew better; she was a cop.

“Shawn?” she knocked louder, getting nervous and just a little paranoid. “Please, open up.”

Finally, heavy footsteps could be heard shuffling over the floor towards the door and then someone yawned demonstratively. A sleepy figure with his hair sticking out at every angle possible opened the door, looking utterly confused to find her there.

“Jules, what are you—“ Shawn began mumbling, before his breath was taken away by a crushing hug.

“I’m sorry, I had to see you.” she whispered against his chest.

She could actually hear him grinning as he answered, “Ha, so my observational skills weren’t that off, huh?”

“Just shut up and hold me.” Juliet hissed, squeezing him extra tight in mild anger.

Shawn groaned. “Juules… you’re really squeezing every single bit of oxygen out of me. Let me breathe.”

Juliet didn’t respond to that. “I’m so glad that you’re okay.” she blurted out without thinking and continued to hang onto him.

“Of course I’m okay.” Shawn gasped, making a show of slowly suffocating. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?” When Juliet didn’t answer right away, Shawn seemed to realize what was going on. Carefully, he peeled himself out of her desperate embrace and attentively studied her face. “Is this about the things I told you this morning?”

Feeling naked under his clever, inquiring gaze, Juliet looked shamefully to the ground. “I-I never dreamt this vividly. It was… it was terrible and you w-were… I-I’m sorry, I know I’m being stupid for waking you up because of a nightmare…” she stuttered nervously.

“Hey, nothing you do is stupid.” Shawn interrupted her. Obviously, taking pity on her shivering form, standing half-naked at his door, he reached for her hand and pulled her inside. “Come in. Tell me about your dream.”

He half-heartedly apologized for the mess and shoved his blanket and some empty candy wrappers away to make room for her on the sofa. They settled down closely together and Juliet couldn’t help but pathetically lean into his side and nurturing from his warmth as she told him what she saw.

“I was at the station when a report came in about a car accident.” she started. “I thought it was just a routine day, but then you were there…” Juliet swallowed. “Overrun by that truck you mentioned. And there was so… much… blood. Everywhere.” She fought to articulate every word without crying, but eventually she failed. “All I see… r-right now when I’m closing m-my eyes i-is your blood, Shawn.” she sobbed. “You were dead. You-You were lying there a-and I couldn’t _do_ anything. I-I couldn’t tell you th-at I love you and that I-I… and Gus a-and your dad, they—“

“Shh, it’s okay.” Shawn soothed her, wrapping his arm around her violently trembling figure. “It wasn’t real. I’m here, Jules. I’m always here for you.” He hesitated a little before he tentatively continued his sentence. “And… you know I’m going to stay by your side for as long as you want… _if_ you want.”

Abruptly, Juliet freed herself from his gentle hug and stared right into his eyes. “Yes.” she said before the topic could steer away from her again. “Yes, I want that.”

Shawn blinked at her a little taken aback. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but he didn’t dare showing it until he knew for sure. “Jules… are you saying, that…”

“Shawn, I want to be with you again.” Juliet finally announced clearly while wiping the tears from her face. “I want you to know that… despite how angry, disappointed and hurt I was I never stopped loving you. And now that I know the truth behind all your lies, I’m ready… and I’m able to forgive you.”

Juliet sobbed, her voice breaking just a little. “It was hard, but we made it through and I’m thankful for still having you in my life. And because of how dangerous our jobs can be… because everything could be over in just a second… I never want there to be any doubt in either of our minds again about how we feel about each other.” She took his face between her hands, her thumps stroking softly over his rough, stubbly cheeks. “I want you to know that… I love you and accept you just the way you are, Shawn.”

Now Shawn’s smile finally spread, lighting up his whole being. As if there had been a part of him missing… as if he wasn’t really himself until that moment when he knew that she could genuinely forgive him. “You mean… I can come home?”

The soft-spoken question was full of fragile hope and love and it made Juliet smile broadly with unbelievably great relief and happiness that this dark part of their lives was over. “Yes.” she said again, beaming with joy. “I want you to come home and never leave me again.”

Shawn immediately wrapped his arms around her and released a sigh he was seemingly holding for forever. “I won’t, Jules. And I promise I won’t give you any more reasons to leave me, either. I’ll make this work, Sweetheart, you’ll see.”

Juliet grinned. “I know you will. You’re still my non-psychic, crime-fighting superhero, you know.”

Shawn parted from her to sat up straight and swell his chest with a proud, self-assured grin. “Oh, I am. I’m so superhero-y you wouldn’t believe it.” Juliet giggled. “Oh, I have to tell Gus the good news.” Shawn said and attempted to get up to reach his phone.

Juliet held him back by his arms and steered him back into the cushion. “It’s the middle of the night.” she said, slinging her arms around his neck. “Gus can wait... I can’t.”

She leaned close and kissed him before he could mention that his keen skills of observation had been right all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this long explanation of how Shules got back together again and it would make me so happy if you would leave a comment and tell me what you think… :)


	3. Missing Scene 6x10: Indiana Shawn and the Temple of the Kinda Crappy, Rusty Old Dagger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a request from Craftygirl11 over on fanfiction. - At the beginning of season 6 he blurted out that he loves her. But that was kind of an accident, right? So, when does Shawn muster up the courage to say those three little words for real? This is taking place at the beginning of the episode 6x10, after Gus confronts Shawn with the recovered engagement ring...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yesss! Finally, NEW stuff for Psych! :D I haven't written for this fandom for over a year now, but I hope I still managed to make everyone sound true to themselves... ;)

The color of the ring was dull silver. If you squint you could say it had the color of her many gray pantsuits. The encased jewel definitely reminded him of her eyes. It was something between a very bright blue and a stormy gray-silver.

Shawn watched his grandmother’s ring sparkle as he held it into the light between his thumb and forefinger.

_Maybe_, he thought, _one day… it would fit her just perfectly_.

He meant Juliet, of course… not his late grandmother.

Shawn was baffled as he realized how much he was smiling just thinking about that moment when she would wear it on her finger. If those recent events at the spa resort in Ojai were any indicator, he should rather faint from several nervous breakdowns.

But he didn’t and that says something, doesn’t it?

He closed his fist around his precious ring, vowing to find a safe place for it this time.

“There’s one more thing I was wondering about, by the way.” Gus’ voice spoke up again as he returned in the doorway between the first and second room of the Psych office.

Shawn rolled his eyes. Gus had just bombarded him with questions and accusations as to why Shawn hadn’t told him that he took an engagement ring on that weekend trip with Jules. Although everything had been a big misunderstanding and Jules made it clear that she didn’t expect him to propose just yet, Gus was miffed about the fact that Shawn hadn’t told him about his intentions.

“Eight times, Gus!” Shawn exclaimed exasperated. “I called you eight times. How is it my fault that you don’t pick up your phone? Plus, as I already promised, if I’m going to propose for real, I want you by my side, bawling your eyes out, okay? Not even Jules can come in between us, you hear me, buddy?”

“That’s not what I wanted to say.” Gus said dismissively, but then he did narrow his eyes and lifted an accusatory finger at him. “But for your sake, let’s hope you stay true to your word.”

Shawn opened his mouth but could only shake his head in disbelief.

“What I’ve been meaning to ask is… if all of this hadn’t been a misunderstanding—”

“It _was_ a misunderstanding!” Shawn stressed. “I told you I’m not ready to get married.”

“Would you let me finish talking?” Gus complained.

Shawn sighed. He just wanted this whole uncomfortable conversation to be over, but he figured the fastest way for that to happen is to let Gus have this moment. He made a vague gesture for him to continue.

“If this all hadn’t been a misunderstanding…” Gus started again. “And Juliet actually wanted you to propose to her, whether you were ready or not… would you have done it?”

Again, Shawn opened his mouth ready to fire back with a quick, definite answer… but, suddenly, he found that he didn’t know what to say.

Would he have gone through with his original plan? If he hadn’t lost the ring, no dead Texan appearing in the wine barrel and with no cool gangster couple to distract them… would he have done it?

Gus was getting impatient. “Come on, Shawn. You owe me this answer for not telling me about the ring in the first place.”

“I’m thinking, Gus.” Shawn stressed, shoving his hands into his jean pockets and nervously playing with the ring inside. “It’s an important question, isn’t it?” he mumbled, leaning against his desk and looking towards the ground, not daring to meet Gus’ steely, requesting face.

He hated talking about his feelings… hated it maybe with an even greater passion than his dad hated it. But somehow, Gus’ question left him genuinely curious. Maybe he was lucky that this case dropped into their laps. That way, Jules had a chance in the end to tell him that Shawn more than met her expectations for the trip. But if everything had been different… if Jules expected him to pop the question… would it really be so bad?

“I… I think… I would have gone through with it.” Shawn admitted finally.

“What?! Seriously?” Gus exclaimed; clearly this wasn’t what he had expected.

“Yes, seriously.” Shawn stated a little offended, walked past his friend into the front room to tinker with some knick-knacks on a shelf on the wall. “You wanted an answer, here, you got it. Don’t act like this would be a completely impossible thing for me to do.”

Gus followed him. “I’m sorry, Shawn, but that’s exactly what it is.”

“Oh, really. Why?” Shawn had fished the ring out of his pocket, tinkered some more and finally turned around towards Gus with empty hands.

Gus frowned. “Where did you put it?”

“A safe place.” Shawn insisted. “Why?” he asked again.

Gus shrugged, disinterested for now and continued to answer. “Because you, Shawn Spencer, are the biggest commitment phobe I ever came across. I’ve known you for almost my whole life and I thought for sure that you would never propose to Juliet after just one year of actually dating her. I thought she would have to trick you into doing it, sometime in the far away future when you’re already gray and old.”

Shawn snorted. “Yeah… I thought so, too, but…” he pondered, seriously now. “What if I just don’t realize when the time would be right? Maybe I’ll miss it and I’d lose her because of it.” he paused yet again. “If it makes her happy…” Shawn continued sheepishly. “I’d do it.”

“But if marriage isn’t what makes _you_ happy, she has to respect that, too, don’t you think?” Gus remarked.

“I know.” Shawn stated. “I already told her that much. She knows that I’m not ready yet, but that I would do it for her… and for us.” Remembering the words he had said to Jules in all honesty, Shawn couldn’t help but repeat them again now. “I’d do it not because I have to... but because I want to.”

“You _want_ to?” Gus echoed wide-eyed.

“Y-Yes. Not yet, _obviously_! But someday… maybe… Gus, haven’t you been listening?” Shawn stumbled nervously through his speech; panic seemed to suffocate him. His feet tapped the ground with a quick pace and eventually he just couldn’t stand Gus’ flabbergasted face anymore and he moved past him again to step outside the Psych office and towards the Blueberry.

_Ahh, fresh air!_ And they still had to get to an appointment, after all, with a shipment at the museum.

But Shawn just couldn’t escape Gus and his questions. “So…” he said, quickly following his friend outside. “If you had proposed and she had accepted, you would really be okay with that?”

“_Guus_, can we just drop this already?” Shawn whined. “Jules isn’t ready, either. She told me. She’s happy with the way things are between us. She’s happy with me.” Involuntarily, a small smile formed on his lips. “Can you believe it, she’s actually happy with who I am.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s great.” Gus waved dismissively. It seemed like he hasn’t heard yet what he wanted to hear. “But just hypothetically speaking… don’t you think this would cause problems in the future, if you had proposed at a time you weren’t actually ready?”

With an exasperated eye-roll, Shawn supported his arms on the hood of the car and momentarily hid his face between them. “You’re confusing me, dude. I can’t keep up with your hypoallergenic words—”

“Hypothetic.”

“I’ve heard it both ways.” Shawn said. “All I know is that… I might like marriage. I mean, maybe I am just too afraid to commit, like you said, but… in the end… I could have enjoyed it.”

“Really?” Gus asked from his side of the car, throwing him a skeptical look over the blue roof of the vehicle. “What makes you so sure?”

“Becaausse, Gus…” Shawn lectured, dragging the word out. “The only thing that really matters in the end is… that we’re… happy. And I know I would be, because… because I, uhm…” His confidence faltered rapidly towards the end and Shawn began to stutter, avoiding eye contact with Gus.

His best friend leaned forward, not leaving him off the hook. “Because what?”

Shawn sighed. “BecauseIknowthatIloveher.” he rambled his words together quickly and got into the car without another look into Gus’ face.

Inside, he sat down with his heart pumping rapidly for no apparent reason, clenching his clammy hands nervously around his legs. Gus entered the car with a grin so wide, he could give the Cherish Cat a run for its money. He slammed the door shut and turned to Shawn with smug satisfaction.

“Wow… now I actually managed to trick you into admitting it out loud.”

Shawn clicked his tongue, rolled his eyes and stared outside the passenger window with a pout. “Oh, that’s very mature of you, Gus. You could have asked me directly.”

Gus snorted. “Yeah, right. Like you would have given me a straight answer.”

Impatiently, Shawn turned towards him again. “Well, now we’re even, right? No more questions about this topic now that you got to hear it even before Jules.”

Gus had already put the key into the ignition, but now his hand dropped away again. _“What?!”_ he cried. “You haven’t said it to her yet?”

Shawn groaned as if in actual physical pain. “Can we _pleease_ just drive?”

“Shawn, have or haven’t you told Juliet about how you feel?” Gus insisted.

“Well, that one time… you know, when I was strapped to the lie detector, but… not really… to her face.”

Gus shook his head, laughing humorlessly. “And you thought she wanted to get married.”

“Hey,” Shawn snapped. “Quit your mocking, Mr. I’ve-married-Hurricane-Mira-on-a-whim-and-a-goat-was-my-best-man! This is completely new for me, okay? I mean, I always thought she knew somehow… t-that I… that I l-love her. No need to… constantly say it to someone’s face, right? Just like I know… or rather, I think that, maybe… she loves me, too. You know... possibly.”

“Possib--, oh, my god, Shawn!” Gus exclaimed.

“_What!?_” he shot back, defensively crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“You’re absolutely unbelievable.” Gus said and couldn’t stop shaking his head in disbelief. “First, you can’t manage to ask her out for five years and then you skip five steps and want to marry her when you can’t even say that you love her without your voice quivering.”

Shawn continued to pout silently.

“Dude... I have to ask this as your best friend,” Gus said, suddenly serious. “Do you really think that you are on the right track?”

Shawn’s head snapped up so quickly that Gus actually flinched back. “We are!” he said forcefully. “Jules thinks so, too. And _I love her_, you hear me! No quiver, no nothing and I’m not saying it just to prove to you that I can. I say it because it’s true. I’m in love with Juliet, I think I always have been and I could never imagine something like marriage with anyone else but her!”

Shawn’s body trembled and he breathed heavily as he came down from his outburst. He blinked, abruptly unclenching his fists when he noticed how tightly he was balling them. Swallowing sheepishly, he looked down into his lap.

“Good.” Gus eventually said calmly into the silence. “Then it’s about time that you actually say all this to her face, don’t you think?”

Shawn lifted his gaze and gave his buddy a long, unwavering look. He felt somewhat relieved to have all of his pent-up feelings off his chest. It seemed like a wake-up call to him; it straightened everything out and made him realize things he refused to think about for a long time.

But now everything was clear as day.

“You’re right, Gus.” he said suddenly. “Absolutely right. She deserves to know.” Driven by an irrepressible urge to come clean, Shawn quickly unbuckled and got out of the car. “We meet up later, buddy.” he said and with that the car door slammed shut.

“Wait, Shawn, what about… the shipment.” Gus sighed; Shawn couldn’t hear him anymore. “Oh man, I hope this goes well.”

* * *

“Juliet O’Hara!” Shawn called out loudly upon entering the station.

Several heads turned in his direction, but not all of them; the police force was used to his loud entrance. Shawn didn’t care in the least. He was a man on a mission and right now he followed it with determination. He scanned the crowd for her blonde head and finally found her standing by Lassiter’s desk with an adorably confused frown on her face.

“Jules.” he said, stepping to her and her grumpy partner.

“Shawn, what are you—”

He didn’t let her finish. “I need to talk to you.”

“We’re busy.” Lassiter grumbled in annoyance, closing a file so Shawn wouldn’t sneak a look. But Shawn wasn’t interested in anything else but his girlfriend anyway.

Juliet still looked wary, but she couldn’t help but smile at Shawn despite his intense gaze. “Uhm, okay, Shawn. Just let me and Lassiter finish—”

“Now.” He cut her off unusually fierce, which made her frown deepen.

Lassiter lifted his head with a dark, protective look on his face. “You heard her, Spencer. Get lost!”

“Shawn, is everything alright?” Worry mixed into Juliet’s voice.

Shawn felt the nervous energy within him about to burst. He didn’t know how he had been able to keep it in for so long, but he definitely couldn’t anymore. So, he impulsively decided to ignore both of them and just let the confession tumble out of his mouth.

“Jules, I love you.”

“What?!” several voices were heard to exclaim after a short beat of shocked silence. Lassiter’s right eye twitched and Chief Vick’s head had appeared from inside her office.

But Juliet hadn’t said anything just yet.

She stared at Shawn with her mouth hung open and her eyes blinking slowly. Her cheeks began to heat up, but she couldn’t seem to decide whether she should feel happy or embarrassed.

“Shawn…” she whispered finally and a smile found its way onto her face.

Shawn smiled back, his own first shock of admitting it out loud slowly wearing off. “Yes, you heard me right.” he confirmed. “I know it took me a long time to say it, but I was… nervous. Can you believe it?” he chuckled to himself. “I never said this to anybody and I wanted the timing to be right, but I guess in the end I was just stalling. I don’t even know why or for what, but…” Shawn paused his extensive ramblings to take a deep breath, realizing that towards the end his voice started quivering again and his heartbeat sped up.

_Jules still hasn’t said anything yet. Was this a mistake, finally speaking the truth? _Shawn wondered nervously, but he found enough courage within him to end his sentence. “It’s the truth. I love you, Juliet O’Hara.”

It was as if time around them suddenly slowed down and everything became quiet and more focused. Shawn could feel the eyes of many police officers around all trained on them. Juliet must feel it, too. He never had a problem with being the center of attention, but he knew it was different for Jules. Those were her colleagues.

She cleared her throat now, blinking rapidly and tearing his gaze away from him to speak to her partner. “Uhm, Carlton, w-would you please... excuse us for a moment.”

Her partner nodded curtly, still too shocked to say anything, but his eyes shot metaphorical daggers at Shawn.

“Chief?” Juliet asked then, but her boss only grinned in amusement.

“Go on.” she said. “But make sure you come by my office later. Both of you.” Chief Vick also nodded at Shawn and disappeared behind the closed blinds again.

Juliet looked at Shawn, but suddenly, he couldn’t move anymore. Fear ran through his veins, making his limbs feel heavy and numb. _What if she yells at me for embarrassing her? What if she really doesn’t feel the same? Did I go too far?_

Obviously noticing his paralyzed state, Juliet took him by the hand and led him outside. Over the parking lot and to the grassed front area of the Department where a park bench was located. She didn’t say one word during the whole time, only dragging Shawn along behind her.

They hadn’t reached the bench just yet when the words finally burst out of Shawn. “Jules, I’m so sorry if I took you by surprise with this. I-I didn’t want you to feel embarrassed and if you want to I-I can take it ba—"

At that she suddenly whirled around, taking his face between her small hands and angled it downwards so she could press her lips against his. Startled, Shawn widened his eyes, but then they fluttered close and his hands found their way around her waist out of their own accord. Finally, he responded to her stormy kiss with the same amount of passion, completely forgetting where they were and what he wanted to say.

She was standing on her tiptoes, reaching around his neck and holding on to the hair at the back of his head while he held her close, supporting her with an arm around her small waist and cupping her cheek to deepen the kiss.

Juliet’s feet eventually sank to the ground again as she parted from him. Her hands still resting on his shoulders and her cheeks tinted pink. “Don’t you dare take it back.” she said and Shawn blinked in confusion. She chuckled, her eyes shining brightly. “Shawn, I love you, too.”

Up until this moment Shawn didn’t realize that there existed an even better feeling than realizing that you were in love. No, what was even better, was to hear that this person you love returned those feelings back at you.

He must have been grinning like a love-sick idiot, making Juliet laugh as he finally uttered, “Oh… I’m glad.”

Juliet giggled some more. “Me, too. I don’t know what suddenly made you come to this conclusion, but it was definitely about time.”

“Hmm, let’s say I was inspired.” Shawn said, wrapping both of his arms tightly around her middle and pulling her close to his body. Dipping his head down, he kissed her again.

“But... this hasn’t anything to do with our vacation and what you thought I wanted to hear, because I don’t mean to push you, okay?” Juliet said once she parted from him, short of breath.

Shawn lifted his hand to stroke a loosened strand of golden hair behind her ear. “You’re not pushing me.” he said calmly. “That’s the great thing about you. I should have told you how I feel a long time ago, because I definitely felt that way right from the beginning… not just since the lie detector.”

Juliet smiled, blushing brightly as she obviously thought back to his accidental confession.

“You deserved to know, because you’re perfect. And I’m just—”

“You’re perfect to me.” Juliet said quickly. “I love you just the way you are.”

Shawn grinned lopsidedly. “I think you just said it again.”

Juliet inhaled in mock surprise. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

He couldn’t hold himself back. He kissed her again. Happy and a little wild, with his hands running through her hair. “I could spend forever listening to you say it.” he murmured against her lips.

“You could. I won’t stop saying it if you won’t.” she whispered back.

Their lips found each other again, kissing sweetly. “I’ll never stop.” he said, leaning his forehead against hers and wanting to capture her once more. But, suddenly, she stopped him with her hands against his chest, sheepishly smiling up to him.

“Shawn, I think we should go back in. Chief Vick wanted to see us.”

He pouted, holding her close. “Do we have to? We just had so much fun.” Shawn smirked, leaning in again to tickle her cheek with feather-light, soft kisses.

Juliet chuckled, halfheartedly trying to fight him off. “Tonight, we can gladly go on where we left off, but right now, work comes first.”

Shawn pulled back, lifting his eyebrows in flirtation. “Is that a promise?”

“Damn sure.” she grinned.

Shawn’s ridiculously wide smile broadened even more and he stole one last kiss before he let her go. “Alright, my dearest Jules, go on then. I’ll be there in a second. Gus and I had an appointment. I just have to call him first.”

“Okay.” Juliet smiled. “See you inside.” She threw a wink over her shoulder before she turned and walked away with a spring in her step.

Shawn’s insides fluttered. Although, he knew her for so long already, he was sure he’d never seen her this happy before.

Entirely overwhelmed by everything that just happened Shawn let himself fall down onto the bench, fishing for his phone. He leaned his head back, closing his eyes and grinning against the sun, as he waited for Gus to pick up:

“Gus… she loves me, too!”

“You know that’s right.” came the smug reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It would make me so happy if you let me know what you think of the new chapter! :)


	4. Missing Scene 3x11: Lassie Did A Bad, Bad Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of hurt and what could have happened between Shawn getting knocked out in front of the Psych office and corrupt cop Drimmer forcing him to text Lassie (requested by Mysteryfan17). And then a little bit of comfort and camaraderie after the episode ends (requested by cosette141). I hope you still remember this; it's an old one, haha...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's thanks to the hype of the movie and to your awesome reviews that this chapter comes to you waaay quicker than every previous one! :) Thank you so much everyone who is reading and commenting this! 
> 
> I hope you'll like this new missing scene moment. I kind of posted it without thinking further about it, although I wasn't entirely sure if it was really good enough. But then I just got too excited, so this happened, haha... I hope you'll enjoy reading...

Shawn was having a very vivid dream.

A tinny little melody was playing, like one from a street cart. And there was a giant red and white-striped carton that was tipping over and a million little peanuts were raining down on Shawn, burying him beneath them. And then, suddenly, he was at the zoo. But he wasn't standing outside the cages… he was in one. Families of elephants were trudging to and fro in front of his cage, pointing their trunks at him and making fun of the little human in the cage.

_Strange,_ Shawn thought. _Why am I dreaming of elephants?_

Suddenly, the elephants in front of his cage all had little red and white-striped buckets of peanuts with them and they began throwing the nuts at him… or were they legumes? Shawn didn't pay attention when Gus had explained the difference to him. Either way, it really hurt when one got bombarded with those.

"_Ow!"_ Shawn complained and tried to shield himself from the assault with his hands. _"Stop that. Hey, would you stop—" _The elephants were trumpeting. It sounded like laughter. _"Hey!" _Shawn hollered insulted.

But the elephants didn't care about his whining. They seemed to be aiming for his head… or at least that was the body part of Shawn that hurt the most. Like little lightning bolts of pain, shooting through him with every peanut that hit him. Suddenly, Shawn gasped in realization.

_Oh, right… I went to get peanuts from that street cart, _he remembered. Shawn stood straighter in his little zoo cage and frowned. _Huh, but what happened next…_

The elephants didn't give him time to properly think this through. They kept throwing peanuts without a pause. Hitting his head and sending little explosions of pain through his brain. _Oh man, this really shouldn't hurt this bad, _Shawn wondered. The peanuts were feeling more like concrete bricks to him.

The waves of dull pain were getting sharper and sharper by the second, humming and stinging until the dream wasn't just uncomfortably weird, but truly agonizing. Shawn couldn't see straight anymore and the elephants became blurry, gray shapes, disappearing from his sight.

And, suddenly, the dream was no longer a dream.

Shawn blinked his eyes open with a start and wanted to yell as the full, conscious extent of the pain he was in registered in his mind. But he could only groan unintelligible.

Globes of diffusing light flurried by and Shawn blinked again to focus more on what he was seeing. But he couldn't. His sight kept swimming. _What is that… street lamps, maybe? _Shawn couldn't focus on his thoughts, either. The pain was distracting him. The humming of a car engine vibrated beneath him and it seemed to carry the throbbing pain from his head, to his face and down to every other body part.

Shawn groaned again and this time his awareness was noticed and punished immediately.

"Hey, we're not there yet! I have no time to deal with you now!" said a gruff voice and before Shawn could even begin to think of a witty response, there was a sudden, sharp burst of pain at his left temple. His head sank against the window to his right and once more Shawn was out like a light.

The next time he woke up, Shawn came face to face with Detective Drimmer and, all at once, everything that happened after he paid for his peanuts came rushing back to him.

Shawn tried to sit up from where he was lying in a heap and felt his heartbeat pounding painfully in his face. The room immediately started to spin and Shawn had to concentrate so he wouldn't throw up.

He was at Lassie's apartment, he eventually realized and the angry hunk of a man sitting across from him was holding a gun in his hand.

Just when Shawn thought it couldn't get any worse than that, his splitting headache proved him wrong. Drimmer was talking, snapping at him to shut up. _Did I say something, _Shawn wondered._ Oh, yes… yes, I __must have__. __Damn concussion._

Drimmer had hit him hard, Shawn couldn't deny that. As he was trying to get his brain to function and explain to Drimmer that he knew exactly what he had done, Shawn simultaneously took stock of his injuries:

_Let's see, probably concussion from hit to the head… multiple __hits__ maybe? Can't pinpoint where exactly the pain is coming from, but DAMN, is it great! Also, really, _really_ nasty bruise from that cheap sucker punch to the face. Anything else… wait… what am I even trying to do right now? Oh, crap, that gun looks so freaking real..._

"Do y'think killing me is gonna solve all your problems?" Shawn slurred unintentionally while fighting not to cower from Drimmer's cold stare.

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you." he answered confidently, which made Shawn pause. "I'm going to make it look like Lassiter killed you."

"Ha…" Shawn snorted in amusement, but the vibration of this noise made his whole face hurt and his eyes momentarily rolled back. Blinking quickly before he could fall sideways, Shawn steadied himself with his fists next to him on the couch. "Give him s'time and he'll do that a-anyway… wi'out you gettin' your 'ands dirty."

"Believe me, I know." said Drimmer. "I've been around you for only a few days and _I_ want to kill you. But unfortunately, I can't wait until Lassiter snaps." With that, Drimmer suddenly got up to sit next to Shawn on the couch. With the gun pressed sharply to the soft flesh on the side of Shawn's belly, he gripped his neck with his free hand.

Shawn couldn't hide the nervous flinch as he felt the unrelenting, hard metal pressed into his gut. Instinct told him to get the hell away from the barrel of the gun, but Drimmer immobilized him with his neck pinch.

"So, here's what's going to happen…" Drimmer growled into Shawn's ear. "You are going to text Lassiter to come here. No tricks, no funny business or I'll put a bullet in you." He shoved the gun further into Shawn's side to make his point clear.

Shawn swallowed to keep his nerves under control. His head was still pounding like crazy, but the more immediate threat of the gun flooded his body with fear and adrenalin, clearing his mind. "I-I don't think Lassie will be up for a chat. He's still pretty down with his badge gone and whatnot."

The grip at his neck tightened as Drimmer shook Shawn around, sending swirling sensations through his stomach. "You're going to have to convince him." Drimmer said.

"Aw, man…" Shawn gasped, struggling to keep his voice even. "That's really not my strong suit. Y'know, dealing with all his depressive feelings. I'm more of an upbeat kinda guy. But I'm sure Lassie'll come around when he's-"

Shawn's breath was abruptly knocked out of him when Drimmer hauled off to ram the backside of the gun into his stomach. Pain exploded and Shawn desperately gasped for air. Another blow followed that left Shawn screaming and doubling over. With his hands clutching his stomach, Shawn rolled to the side, away from Drimmer. But he couldn't hold himself upright anymore.

Biting his lip to stifle his agonized moans, Shawn slipped from the couch and down to his knees. But Drimmer didn't give him a break.

With a rough shove forward, Shawn landed flat on his bruised stomach between the sofa and the coffee table. He yelped again, squeezing his eyes shut as his vision blurred once more. Drimmer's knee between his shoulder blades and the gun against the back of his neck was holding him firmly down.

"Listen, Spencer!" Drimmer spat angrily. "I have other ways of making you compliant. You may act as if you don't care about whether you live or die, but maybe you will care if I'm pointing the gun at our favorite female Detective."

Shawn momentarily stopped breathing, which didn't go unnoticed by Drimmer.

"Ah, see, I knew it." he said. "That obvious, pathetic jealousy when I mentioned Detective O'Hara before. You _are_ an item, aren't you?"

Shawn swallowed; his throat had suddenly run painfully dry. "No." he said fiercely. "We're not. Not that it is any of your business."

The gun pressed harder against his skin. "But you do care about her, right?"

Adrenalin was rushing through Shawn's system for a whole different reason now. Determined he balled his fists and tried to fight against the knee that pinned him down, but to no avail. "Don't bring her into this!" Shawn hissed against the floor. He could feel his veins pulsating angrily against his skin. Drimmer pressed Shawn's head to the ground, making him moan. Black dots danced in front of his eyes.

"Then do as I say, smart-ass!" Drimmer growled. "Because I can make her come here, you know? Juliet thinks I'm just a klutz who brings her cupcakes. She won't suspect a thing if I'm calling her for back-up. Oh, that poor, naive girl."

Forgetting all of his pains and bruises, Shawn wiggled beneath Drimmer, trying harder to break free. "Stop that." he called out angrily.

The cold gun pressed deeper into his neck, squelching all forms of protest. "Unless you send a text to Lassiter right now that will make him come here, I will kill you both. You and O'Hara. And I will start with her, so you can watch her bleed out. Do you understand, psychic?"

Shawn's vision blurred. His mind suddenly filled with pictures of Jules' perfect ocean-blue eyes, widened in fear as she was clutching a bullet wound at the center of her chest. Shawn's stomach twisted and he blinked rapidly to make the picture go away.

The barrel of the gun was making it hard for him to breathe and his lips trembled as he finally managed to speak, "Y-Yes… I… I understand." Shawn whispered in defeat. Adrenalin rush or not, he had to come up with another way to stall. There was no way he would put Jules in any form of potential danger. No, he and Lassie would have to figure this out on their own.

"Good." said Drimmer and suddenly the pressure on Shawn's body was gone and the low-life cop pulled him up by the back of his collar and shoved him back on the sofa.

Shawn sat there with his eyes closed and proceeded to breathe deeply through his mouth. The constant movement made him see stars and his stomach swirled uncomfortably. _Keep it together, _he reminded himself fiercely and he reopened his eyes.

Drimmer was standing across from him again, the gun firmly pointed at his head. He nodded towards the coffee table where Shawn's cellphone laid. "Here is what you'll write…"

* * *

_It could have turned out way worse than this,_ mused Shawn one day later, propped up in a hospital bed and texting Gus with annoying persistence.

Gus had in fact just left the hospital, but that didn't stop Shawn from continuing their fight about who was going to be in charge of the cable bill from now on.

After Shawn was forced to send that text to Lassie, he was still hopeful that the detective would get his clue and bring the cavalry with him. But Lassie had showed up alone, apparently so out of his detective-mode that he honestly believed Shawn would send him a text without emoticons. _How could anyone be so boring and renounce the little smiley faces anyway?_

But still the two men had managed to turn the tables on Drimmer.

Shawn grinned proudly to himself as he thought back how heroic he must have looked, when he grabbed Drimmer's arm, angled the gun away from him and managed to keep hold of him despite his nausea and his spinning, pounding head until Lassie dove for one of his hidden guns and shoot the man.

Just a second later, Jules, Gus and his dad had stormed in and all they witnessed was Lassie's badass gun-cocking-and-catching-the-bullet-move, while Shawn almost fainted like a little girl on his wobbly knees.

_Damn it, I wish Jules could've seen me, too, _Shawn thought, shaking his head and cursing Juliet's horrible timing. Not for the first time.

His dad had insisted that he stayed at the hospital for at least 48 hours so his concussion could be monitored, but now, not even 24 hours later, Shawn was already bored to death. He wasn't even feeling that dizzy anymore. The bruises on his stomach, however... they still hurt. But Shawn had hid them, not wanting to receive any pity glances. Not even the doctors had noticed them yet.

Shawn sighed, letting his eyes wander around in the boring, bleak room with nothing to do. Just as he considered his move to sweet-talk the young nurse who was responsible for him into letting him out early, there was a distinct knock on the door.

Shawn furrowed his brows. _The hospital staff mostly doesn't knock and visiting hours are over. Who could that be?_

After a short pause, the door swung open and to Shawn's surprise, a sheepish-looking Detective Carlton Lassiter came into view. "Lassie!" Shawn exclaimed enthusiastically; he was a little bit loopy from the mild pain meds he received. "Come in, come in. What brings you here?"

The head detective stiffened his jaw, as if bracing himself before setting foot into Shawn's room, and closed the door behind him. "Spencer." he greeted. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Aw, Lassie. I knew you cared." Shawn grinned lopsidedly, putting a hand over his heart, feigning to feel deeply touched.

"Knock it off." Lassiter demanded in his usual grouchy voice. "Don't make me regret coming here already."

"How did you even manage to do that?" Shawn asked truly curious. "The nurses here are awfully strict with their 'no visitors outside visiting hours' policy."

Lassiter couldn't hide the smug grin as he showed Shawn his newly returned police badge. "With a little help from this." he said.

Shawn smiled warily. "Please tell me this sentence ends here and you're not going to pull out your gun next."

Smiling, Lassiter patted the bulge in his shoulder holster, obviously feeling like a whole person again. "I could have done that, too." he said wistfully.

Shawn raised his eyebrows which didn't even register in Lassie's gleeful mind. "Hmm…" he hummed a little creeped out. "And here I was, thinking that you came here to finally confess me your true feelings."

And just like that Lassie's scowl was back.

"Drimmer made some very disturbing assumptions about us, remember?" Shawn continued lightheartedly, feeling immense joy as he watched Lassie's frown deepen with every syllable he uttered.

"You will _not_ breathe a word about this to anyone, understand!" Lassiter growled, a warning finger pointed at him. "Blab this to Guster or O'Hara or anyone else and I will come back and strangle you with my bare hands. And in contrary to what that scumbag Drimmer thinks, I will not feel guilty about it!"

Shawn held up his hands in surrender. "Geez, Lassie, you could let a guy down gentler than that, you know." As his opponent's face darkened even more and he stepped closer, Shawn quickly scrambled to the opposite edge of the bed. "Okay, okay. I'll stop. Promise."

Shawn made a gesture as if he was locking his mouth with a key and then threw that key away. "See?" he said and then kept perfectly still as a dull pulsing at the side of his belly reminded him that, although the pain meds were easing his soreness, they didn't make the blue and purple spots vanish completely, so he shouldn't do such quick movements.

Lassiter shot him another warning glance and put his badge back in his pocket. He kept standing there, awkwardly looking Shawn over from head to toe.

The latter frowned again, his curiosity piqued. "So… what really made you come here then?" Shawn asked.

"Like I told you…" Lassiter started and then made a small pause to think about his next sentence. "You were held captive under my roof, so…" he gestured nonchalantly with his hands. "I ought to make sure that you weren't dying from the concussion."

Shawn narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "I'm fine, Lassie." he said.

"Good." Lassiter answered quickly.

"Yeah, you see, my brain is running so smoothly again that I'm even receptive for new psychic visions…" Shawn raised his hand to his head in his typical fashion, which made the head detective roll his eyes. "I'm getting something right now, actually… I'm sensing that… you still haven't told me the true reason for your visit."

"Come on, spare us the theatrics." Lassiter snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. "You know I don't buy this crap… and you can't fool me, either, with your covered-up bruises." he added insistently.

Shawn's head snapped abruptly towards Lassie. "What?"

"Oh, you heard me." said Lassiter. He motioned for Shawn's abdomen, his voice getting just a little bit softer, "When Henry and Guster brought you away, I noticed you were holding yourself awfully stiff and you were covering your right side with your hand as if to protect it."

Unintentionally, Shawn's hands went for his stomach again, as if he could still hide the bruises there.

"I figured your face wasn't the only place Drimmer hit you, am I right?" continued Lassiter. Shawn averted his gaze and stared stubbornly at the boring white blanket, hoping that he could make the detective drop his questioning if he only waited long enough. But Lassiter proved to be stubborn, too. "What else did he do?"

The way Lassiter asked this... it left no room for distractions. Shawn suddenly got reminded of that time when he was a boy and he came home from school with a black eye because a girl had punched him. He had tried to hide it from his dad, but Henry immediately noticed it. And he had questioned Shawn as persistent as Lassie did just now.

As if he wouldn't leave the room before he found out what exactly had happened.

As if he actually cared.

"What did he do, Spencer?" Lassiter repeated more urgent.

"Doesn't matter now, does it?" Shawn muttered childishly. "It's over. We got him arrested."

Shawn still wasn't looking at him, but out of the corner of his eye he saw how Lassie threw up his arms in exasperation. "You know what… fine. It's your own fault." the detective said. "That bastard had a gun. You should be glad that he only knocked you around. But that's what happens when you just can't shut your mouth even when you really should."

"For your information, I was trying to keep you out of this, okay!" Shawn exclaimed suddenly and turned abruptly around to face Lassie. His bruises pounded prickly and the reflexively protective hand held over his side didn't go unnoticed by the detective. "I figured I could buy some time." Shawn explained. "Gus and my dad must have figured out by then that something was wrong when I didn't return to them, so I just had to keep him distracted until they come for me."

Lassiter snorted dryly. "Some risk you took. He could've decided to use his gun instead of his fists at any time."

"Well, he didn't." Shawn declared, nervously fiddling with the edge of his blanket. "But he… he did eventually threaten Jules instead."

"_What?_" Lassiter growled low in his stomach and his hands immediately balled to fists at his sides.

"That's when I gave in." assured Shawn quickly. "I… I couldn't risk Jules getting hurt because of me, so I did what Drimmer wanted and texted you."

Lassiter proceeded to stare at Shawn, seemingly contemplating something. His posture slowly eased up again. "Good. I mean... you did good, Spencer." he repeated to clarify. "No matter what happens, you never put the life of your partner in danger. If there's any way to avoid it, you do it… whatever the costs." He paused and Shawn curtly nodded to that.

"But _you're_ not her partner… _I am_." Lassiter then stated fiercely. "You didn't have to do any of this. You're not even a detective."

"No… I'm not. Amen to that." Shawn scoffed humorlessly. "But… Jules…" Shawn trailed off for a second as the picture of a frightened, bleeding Juliet found its way back into his mind. It was so wrong, seeing her like this. Bleeding. Scared. Shocked. Shawn swore to himself in that moment that he would never let that image become reality. Ever. "Jules is… like family." he said finally. "I won't let her get hurt."

"Yeah…" Lassiter said pensively. "Me, neither."

Both men fell into contemplating silence, lost in their own thoughts for a while. An attentive onlooker would've known, however, that both of their minds were circling around one Juliet O'Hara.

Suddenly, Shawn and Lassiter's eyes met and they blinked, shocked that they accidentally let their guard down in front of their personal nemesis.

"Uh…" Lassiter uttered and cleared his throat.

"Yeah, well… whatever." mumbled Shawn.

"I… I should go now." said the detective, pointing awkwardly at the door as he made a lanky pivot on the spot and hurried towards the exit. "Spencer!" he barked once more.

"What?" asked Shawn, blinking himself rapidly back to attention.

"You're not telling O'Hara this, are you?" questioned Lassiter. "Because, let me tell you, she hates it if someone acts like she can't take care of herself. _She can!"_

"Of course." replied Shawn quickly. "Of course, she can. And no, I won't tell her."

"Yeah… that's better." said Lassiter and vanished out the door.

Shawn was alone and furrowed his brows. _What was that, _he wondered._ Did Lassie and I just bond over our shared... uhm, fondness for Jules? _Shawn shook his head definitely. _Nu-uh, this can't be true. We would never bond, right? Some strong meds they have here, _he mused, trying to decide if it was easier to believe that he just imagined the whole visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't write something without at least hinting some Shules, haha!  
Also, tell me if the dream sequence at the beginning is a little too weird XD


End file.
